Clinical Experience on Hearing Screening in Twins and Triplets: A Retrospective Study

Abstract Twin or multiple pregnancies often have neonatal complications. Common complications include low birth weight, respiratory distress, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (>5  days) and low APGAR score especially on second twin. (1) To compare referral rates of newborn hearing screening in twins and triplets between risk and non-risk babies for hearing loss, (2) to determine the effects of birth order on referral rates in twins and triplets. A retrospective study was ca rried out from the case records of the neonates enrolled in the referral based NICU hearing screening program during April 2013 to December 2014 at Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chennai. 1405 neonates (723 males and 682 females) in the age range of 3–28 days were screened during this pe riod among which 76 were twins (38 pairs) and 9 were triplets (3 sets). We classified them further into non risk and risk babies among twins according to the Joint Committee for Infant Hearing (JCIH) recommendations. A dual step hearing screening protocol was used to screen the neonates. They were i nitially tested with distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) then with automated auditory brainstem response (AABR) before discharged from the hospital. Out of 76 (100%) twin babies 43 (56.58%) babies had one or more risk factors for hearing loss. Most common risk factors were low birth weig ht, premature birth, mechanical ventilation>5  days, hyperbilirubinemia, infections, ototoxic med...
Source: Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research